the Birds and the Bees
by Zooie
Summary: Set after the Chuunin exam. Hinata asks Neji about the birds and the bees. He explains... sort of.


**Warnings**: allusions to sex

**The Birds and the Bees**

By nature, Hinata was a shy, timid girl. She didn't like to stand out in a crowd or draw attention to herself. She disliked being called on in class. She lived in fear of being a burden and especially hated to impose herself on others. That was probably her greatest fear: that somebody would find her bothersome and not worth helping. So she just didn't ask a lot of the time.

This made things very difficult for Hinata, for life is full of tiny little impositions. Things most people wouldn't think twice about sent her on guilt trips and made her question her self-worth. Asking someone to pass the soy sauce was an imposition; it interrupted someone else's meal and was greedy to hog all the sauce to herself, besides. Asking Kiba to keep it down a little while training was another imposition; after all, he couldn't know when she had a headache and she did so hate to spoil his fun. Even using E-Bay was beyond Hinata; she refused to bid against anyone for an item. She was always certain that they wanted it ever so much more than she.

But desperate times called for desperate measures and that was why Hinata found herself standing in the courtyard watching Neji do his morning exercises. She had been lingering there for quite some time, actually, but couldn't bring herself to call out to her cousin, lest she disrupt his concentration and cause him to injure himself. She was fairly sure that he knew she was there (Neji was a far more talented than she when it came to those types of things) and that he would acknowledge her presence in due time. For the time being, she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, Neji came to a stop, breathing heavily. He held his final pose for a moment, then gradually straightened and headed in her direction.

"Did you bring the tea for me, Hinata?" he asked. "It's always so refreshing."

"Um… I…" Hinata stuttered for a moment before realizing that she had indeed brought a tray of tea with her and was, in fact, holding it. "Yes!"

"Thank you," Neji gave her a faint smile and she wondered for a moment at how much he had changed since the chuunin exam. But change was, after all, why she was there.

"Y-you're welcome." She gave a small smile in return. "Shall we sit?"

Hinata led the way to the walkway and carefully placed the tray down in a shady spot. She then sat on one side of it and Neji seated himself on the other. She handed him a cup and took one for herself. They each took a sip before Neji spoke again.

"Did you need to speak with me about something, Hinata?" he asked.

"Huh? But… how did you know!" She was astounded. Had he progressed so far as a ninja that now he could read minds, too? Would she never catch up!

Neji laughed a little. "You were standing there talking to yourself for half an hour. That's why I waited so long before stopping. You seemed to need some time to sort out your thoughts."

Hinata blushed. "Oh."

Neji smiled indulgently and took another sip of tea. "Are you ready to ask now or do I have time to do another kata?"

"Yes!" Hinata drew upon all her courage and stiffened her resolved.

It took a while.

"Are you ready now?" Neji asked after a few minutes, beginning to look a little irritated.

"Oh… I… yes!" She gathered her gumption and spoke. "Um… normally I'd ask father about this sort of thing, but he's been very busy lately and I was afraid he'd take it badly…. And I was too embarrassed to ask him…"

"Go on," Neji said, looking intrigued or at least mildly interested –it was hard to tell with him.

"Uhh… well, Neji-kun, we're getting older and things are… changing." She wasn't sure which of them was a brighter red. "A-and we're starting to notice people of the opposite s-sex and I was hoping you could answer a very important question for me!" she finished in a rush.

"Maybe you should ask your father about this after all," Neji said, putting down his empty cup and starting to stand.

"No, please, wait!" Hinata was so desperate, she came near to shouting. It shocked her cousin sufficiently enough that he actually obeyed her.

"I want you to tell me about the birds and the bees," Hinata managed to get out. "Don't make me ask father! I just couldn't do it!"

"The birds and the bees?" Neji looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "I can see why you can't go to your father about this. He'd never tell you the truth."

"So… y-you don't mind?" Hinata asked timidly. She was amazed at her cousin; even though they were broaching such a delicate subject, he didn't seem shy about it at all. In fact, he looked utterly confidant and even a little exuberant. He seemed almost… happy.

"Not at all! I am so glad you came to me about this," he said vivaciously. "Who knows what lies anyone else would tell you. You can be certain that I will tell you the truth!"

"T-thank you, cousin," she said, taken aback. Neji, she thought, must be an expert on the matter, although his marked enthusiasm was a bit overwhelming. Was she far behind him in **that**, too!

"No, thank **you**, cousin," Neji replied, taking her hand in his. "I am so glad that you've taken the initiative in this matter. It's never too early to begin to learn how the world really works, although I'd expected you to ask much sooner. But time is a luxury not all of us have. Some of us learn very young. Too young, in fact," he said, looking a little melancholy.

"H-how old were you when you learned, Neji-kun?" she managed to ask, having to fight to keep from ripping her hand away from his. She sometimes had problems remembering that he wouldn't hurt her anymore.

"Five," he said sadly.

"FIVE!" Hinata fairly shrieked.

Neji looked annoyed and dropped her hand. "Yes, five. I thought you knew this already?"

"N-no! No one ever told me!" She simply could not convince herself that she'd heard him correctly. Five! "Is that when it normally happens?"

He was wearing the glum look again. "In the Branch House, sadly yes. It takes a few more years for the Main House members, but they learn early on, too. In fact, I'm surprised you don't already know."

"W-when do the Main House members usually learn?" she managed to ask, trying hard to calm her pounding heart.

"Oh, usually before they're ten," he sighed. "Some say they should learn sooner, but I think that's young enough, don't you?"

"W-who do they learn from?" she asked in a whisper. What was wrong with her family!

"Usually a member of the Branch House of a similar age. It's important to form such a relationship early on, you know," Neji explained. "That's why I'm glad you came to me, cousin. I'm glad you've finally decided to strengthen our bond."

"Ihavetogonowthanksverymuchforthetalknowbye," Hinata said quickly, grabbing the tea tray and fleeing into the dojo. She could never look at Neji again. EVER.

Neji started after her, looking slightly peeved. "I guess she's just not ready to learn about the pitiful existence we Branch House members lead, living like birds in a cage," he sighed, "although she did have me confused about that 'bee' business. What was that about?"

Shrugging, he went back out into the courtyard and dismissed the conversation from mind, blissfully unaware that he had just scarred Hinata for life.

**-The End-**


End file.
